Halo: Cataclysm's Contender
by Atrolus
Summary: Journey with Whiskey Team as they fight to stop the Covenant from gaining the secrets the Forerunner left behind in the Luna star system. Rated for usual Halo game rating, blood, violence, mild language. CHAPTER FOUR IS UP! Please Review!
1. Discovery

Halo: Cataclysm's Contender

(Chapter 1) Discovery

0600 Hours, May 2, 2552 (Military Calendar)/

UNSC Stealth Prowler Titans Shadow, In Slip Space,

En route from Aurora, to uncharted space on the extreme edge of the Luna System.

Atrolus paced anxiously up and down a row of gun racks in the ships largest armory, while waiting for the rest of his team to arrive. Atrolus, Spartan-V84 age 19, always found that after a stay in cryo his left knee would always be seized up and the only thing that could fix that would be to walk it off. Unfortunately there wasn't a whole lot of space to walk around on a prowler. So the little bit of space here in the armory would have to do.

He eventually came to stop in front of a large mirror and started staring at his Tan and Steel colored armor. Some parts where newer than others, but all were vital for his survival. On his left and right shoulders sat identical ODST shoulder plates. As he kept staring, his eye's slowly drifted down to the three large pockets on his chest, then to the tactical GPS on his left wrist, and then on to the case on his left thigh. All of these parts make up who he is. Especially his Mk. V MJOLNIR helmet which kept him and the team's new Artificial Intelligence safe from the elements and from the battlefield. The feature that stood out the most on his armor was his emblem. Three sage green colored points, connected together by a gold sea fairing ship's anchor with a gray rope twisting around the anchor's center shaft.

If these colors were part of a Spartan three's emblem they would be identified as a member of his team. Whiskey team. However, only Mk. Three's from the Commando program could join Whiskey's ranks. For that reason he was grateful. Because in order to be a Spartan Commando you had to go through the hardest training program in the UNSC and pass.

So far there were only five commando teams actively deployed in the field. A team of Commandos ranged between four and six Spartan's. Whiskey team consisted of six Spartan three's and as of today one "smart" AI and together they could get in, accomplish their objective and get out without anyone knowing. Or they could turn the battlefield into a living hell for the Covenant or anyone else who tried to get in their way.

In the mirror's reflection Atrolus saw the armory's door quietly slide open, revealing the rest of Whiskey team and they started filing in. The first one to enter was Holland, Spartan-V303,Whiskey Two, Atrolus' second in command. Holland looked like a knight, because of his armor's shiny silver color. Close behind Holland was Lee, Spartan-V33, Whiskey Three, the team's cryptanalyst, which was ONI's way of calling him a hacker. Lee favored a more traditional navy blue color for his armor. Next in line was Charlotte or Char as the team called her, Spartan-V83, Whiskey Four, the team's sharp shooter. With her rusty orange and steel colored armor she truly looked like a demon on the battlefield. Following Char was Laura, Spartan-V005, Whiskey Five, the squad's heavy. Laura looked like something out of a nightmare, with her black and red armor and the 50. Cal. Mini-gun she liked to take with her on missions; named Richard. The last one to enter was Drake, Spartan-V27, Whiskey Six, Whiskey team's explosive's technician. At a glance, Drake didn't look all that special in his green and gray colored armor. However, there wasn't a substance in the universe that Drake couldn't blow into a billion pieces and that was what made him so valuable.

"Whiskey team, reporting as requested, Whiskey One." Holland announced as the door to the armory slid closed.

"At ease," Atrolus replied, the rest of the team relaxed a little. "Please tell me, do the rest of you know why I asked you to come here?"

The other Spartans looked at one another and Holland spoke up and said. "Sir, we are not all entirely sure, but we know that it must be important for you to have brought us out of cryo while the ship is still in slip-space."

"Good, they didn't know about her yet." Atrolus thought to himself. "I asked you here today, so you could meet the newest member of our team!" He said.

Again the other Spartans looked at one another, and this time it was Lee who spoke. "With all due respect sir, aren't we already at the maximum number of people allowed in a commando team?"

Atrolus smiled and nodded his head, and said. "You are correct, we are at the maximum number of Spartans allowed in a commando team," He paused. "However, our newest member is not a Spartan, but she is an AI"

Now that was something that Whiskey team had never expected. Because for years they had requested to have an AI as part of the team. Other squads had done the same and had been granted their request, but it had never been that way for Whiskey team. So why where they getting one now?

"Team, I'd like you to meet our AI," Atrolus gestured to the holo pad by the mirror as he turned around to face them. "Kallen, you can come out now." To the right of Atrolus; the holo pad came alive and bathed the entire room with a red glow. On the holo pad stood a girl who looked like she may have been 18 years old. She was tall and slender and had spiky shoulder length red hair and a red head band to keep her hair up. Kallen also wore a red and silver colored form fitting jump suit. She had cool blue eyes and an expression that made her look like she meant business.

"Hello everyone, my name is Kallen. I'm a fourth generation advanced "smart" AI, and I've been assigned by Dr. Halsey, herself to work with your team from now on," Kallen said with a smile, "I look forward to working with all of you."

The members of Whiskey team were silent for a moment and then Laura joined in the conversation. "Excuse me," She said with German accent as she crossed her arms. "But I have a question!"

Atrolus looked at her and then looked back at Kallen and then back at Laura and said. "That's fair, I'm sure that you all have questions to ask Kallen, so go ahead."

"I think I speak for the rest of the team when I say this," Laura looked at the Spartans standing next to her. "But what I'd like to know, is why The Office of Naval Intelligence has decided to give us an AI completely out of the blue, when they denied our requests for one in the past? I mean it's been more than three years since our last request was denied, so why now?"

"As you already know, Humanity has been at war with the Covenant for more than a quarter century," Kallen said in an informative tone. "In that short amount of time we have lost more than half our colonies to the Covenant. We don't know how much longer this war will keep going on, so The Office of Naval Intelligence decided to assign an AI to each Spartan team currently deployed with the intent of better equipping them to handle any situation they may encounter."

"Yeah, but why now, and not before when we requested to be assigned one?" Drake asked.

"The reason why your team has gone without the assistance of an AI until now is because Whiskey team is one of the most diverse Spartan teams in the UNSC arsenal," Kallen explained. "This team is one of, if not the most well rounded team in terms of skill and field experience. I'm here to give you an even greater advantage over the Covenant. In other words, I'm your trump card."

The door to the armory slid open to reveal Madam Captain Andria Morton standing in the doorway. "And that is exactly why all of you are here." She said as she stepped inside. "You're here to make sure the Covenant don't get their grubby little hands on whatever it is they've found all the way out here in Luna!"

"Attention, Captain on the deck!" Atrolus bellowed out as he and the other members of Whiskey team saluted.

"At ease," The Captain said as she returned their salute. "It's good to see all of you."

"Likewise ma'am!" The Spartans replied in unison.

"Now if you will follow me, we will go to the bridge so I can brief you on your mission. And Kallen please join us there." Morton said as she spun on her heels and walked out of the armory, with Whiskey team close behind.

"Very well," Kallen said as she watched the others leave. "I'll see you there."

As the Captain lead the way to the bridge not much was said by the Spartans. However, it did give them plenty of time to observe the Captain. Madam Captain Andria Morton was in her early twenty's, she was five feet, five inches tall, with long raven black hair that reached down to the middle of her back. She had bluish, gray eyes and she wore a standard issue Captain's uniform. She was small when compared to a Spartan, however, Atrolus didn't doubt that she had what it took to captain a ship.

After passing through three bulkheads the group finally came to a stop at the bridge door. "Just a second everyone." Said the Captain to the Spartans as she moved to a numerical key pad on the right side of the door, and entered her code. The red L.E.D. on the pad turned green and the door to the bridge hissed open. "Please, go in." Said the Captain as she stepped to the side and gestured for them to enter.

The Spartans entered the bridge and found the bridge crew hard at work, along with Kallen and a blue colored AI that wore armor like that of an ancient Roman solider and held a shield and spear. Both were standing on individual holo pads, next to a blank holo map table. The AI were staring at a count down on the wall, that was for the estimated time until they'd shift back into normal space. The actual time read: 0:30:48. Thirty minutes until the transition and then the mission clock would start.

"I see that you made it here in one piece, Captain," The blue AI said in an arrogant manner as he looked over at the new arrivals. "Ah, and I see that you brought some friends with you."

"It's good to see you too, Cornelius." Andria said as she rolled her eye's. It was to early for his dry sense of humor. She needed to get him back on track. "Cornelius, give me a status update please."

Cornelius nodded and said, "We have a little under half an hour until we transition back to normal space. Ninety five percent of the crew are out of cryo and are at their stations. The other five percent are either in the mess hall or in the ready rooms."

"Good," She muttered while staring at the featureless holo map. "Now, what's the ship status?"

This time Cornelius brought up a three dimensional image of the Titan's Shadow on the holo map, and flagged different areas of the ship as he reported on them. "The Titan's Shadow is running at one hundred percent power coming from the fusion drive core. Our cloaking system is fully charged and ready to be activated upon command." Cornelius paused and looked up at the Madam Captain and asked. "Shall I continue?"

The Madam Captain shook her head and answered. "No, that's fine. Now I'd like you to bring up the mission file for Whiskey team and display it on the holo map." She said as her eye's drifted from the table to both of the AI. "And please give Kallen a copy of this file."

"As you wish!" Cornelius said and bowed. A moment later the Prowler that was on the display disappeared and was replaced with a three dimensional map of the Luna system. "Mission File is ready Captain."

"Thank you Cornelius." Replied the Captain as she motioned for the Spartans to gather around the map. "Here's what we know. About a ten days ago our outpost stations in Sectors M-29 and Sectors J-26 picked up readings that match the drive signatures of Covenant scout ships on the extreme edge of the Luna system." On the map, flag markers appeared in locations where the outpost's would be and the map zoomed in on the area being discussed. "Over the next five days, our outpost's picked up additional Covenant scout ships. In numbers of upwards of sixty ships. All of which were looking for something."

"Interesting!" Atrolus said as he reached up and removed his helmet and set in down on the table. Atrolus had short brown hair and jade green eye's and a long linear scar that ran down from the corner of his right cheek to the middle of his chin. It was caused by a Covenant energy sword that had cut thought his helmet and grazed his cheek. "I've never seen the Covenant deploy that many ships in an attempt to find something." He said as he reached down into the tactical hard case on his left thigh and retrieved a pair of antique eye glasses and put them on while he continued to study the star map. "Especially out in the middle of nowhere here in Luna."

"Very interesting indeed, Whiskey One." Andria said as she looked at Atrolus. She had never before seen Spartans in person, and had never expected one of the UNSC's super soldiers to wear glasses. It just proved that sometimes there were things that technology couldn't fix. "As of two days ago, our stations picked up fragments of unencrypted Covenant battlenet communications stating they'd found 'a most holy relic of the god's...' And that it would, 'undoubtedly further our path on the Great Journey, and that no one was to touch the holy relic until the Hierarch arrived and blessed their righteous efforts...' The stations also intercepted some images the Covenant had taken of their find."

She then pressed a button on the table and the map disappeared. And was replaced with an image of what at first glance looked like a crescent moon.

"A moon?" Char said with a French accent. "What could the Covenant possibly want with a moon?"

"Is it really a moon, V83?" Cornelius asked while looking intently at the image. "Here, I'll clean it up a little for you." The image on the holo map transformed from being a fuzzy outline of a moon into a crisper, more defined object. As the resolution improved it became evident that the object was clearly not a moon at all. "You see," said the AI, "It's a ship. And according to our calculations it measures up to eighty kilometers in length and about five kilometers width."

"That's impossible!" Lee said in protest. "No ship is that big! Not even a space station is that big! It is physically impossible for something of that size to exist."

"I agree with what you are saying, Whiskey Three. The materials and resources needed to construct such a vessel are far beyond what the UNSC can muster, however, look at this..." Cornelius said as the image on the holo map changed again, this time a scaled down version of the artifact appeared and slowly rotated, clockwise, so the front and the back of the ship could be seen. "When I take this image and turn it into a 3D representation of the object, it clearly shows features that are far too detailed and defined to be a moon."

"No kidding!" Lee said. "Who in their right mind would want a ship that big?"

"That information is unknown, but what we do know is that the Covenant can't have it." Captain Morton said as she brought her left hand up to cover her mouth as she cleared her throat.

"I say we blow it up!" Said Drake with a large grin on his face. "A nuke or two should do the trick."

"ONI want's Whiskey team to get on board and retrieve as much information as you can, about the ship, who built it and any other data that you find that might be useful, without being detected by the Covenant or whoever made that ship, if they're still there." Said the Captain. "However, your team will be taking two FENRIS nuclear weapons to help ensure the fact that the Covenant won't be able to gain anything useful from that ship! In other words once you've finished your mission and get back on board and we get out of here the fire works will begin."

"Now that's more like it! Well show the Covenant what happens when they come into our backyard without our permission!" Drake said with and even bigger smile on his face than before and laughed. "This is going to be fun!"

"Has anything happened in the last two days that we need to worry about?" Holland asked as he smiled in approval of Drake's enthusiasm. "Is there anything else we should know?"

"No, not much has changed over the last two days that you need to worry about. However, those Covenant scout ships have formed a loose blockade around the artifact." Again the holo map changed and showed Covenant ships circling the object. "We have about eighteen minutes before we arrive. When we do show up we'll activate our stealth systems and get your team in close enough to E.V.A. from the Shadow to the artifact using Co2 powered thruster packs. From there we will stay around long enough for you get aboard with whatever gear you think you may need," On the display a miniature version of the Titans Shadow appeared and moved past the Covenant blockade and then in close to the artifact. "Once you're aboard you will need to set up a single beam laser COM transmitter so we can stay in contact with you. After that we will pull away and wait for your signal to come in and pick you up."

"Now please remember that this is only a prowler! We don't have any real heavy armor like a Scorpion tank. The best we have is a warthog equipped with a gauss cannon, however, it is highly unlikely that you will need such a thing once inside." Said Cornelius.

"That now brings this briefing to an end. You have fifteen minutes to get whatever equipment you need loaded and down to the hangar. All of you are dismissed except you V84." Andria said as the rest of the team headed for the bridge door.

After the other Spartans left; Atrolus asked. "What is this about Ma'am?"

"Have you ever been the carrier of an AI before?" Asked the Captain as she walked up beside Atrolus. "You do know what they're capable of, don't you?"

"No ma'am I've never been an AI carrier before. Kallen is my first AI and I am grateful to have someone like her on my team." Atrolus said as he looked at Kallen and she looked at him while holding her left arm with her right hand, looking embarrassed.

"I'm glad that you feel that way about me V84, but I don't think that's what the Captain is getting at." Kallen said with a flattered smile.

"Kallen is right, Whiskey One, I was referring to the unique abilities that she has! Kallen has the ability to bring you back to life if you get injured that badly. Kallen can administer up to three rounds of Nanites that can patch up you and your armor if need be. It is truly amazing. However, after the third round has been used you'll have to return to the Titan's Shadow to have that supply replenished." The Captain said as she looked at Kallen.

"Let's hope that we won't have to resort to using them." Atrolus said as he removed his glasses and put them back in their case. "But if they are needed I'll be sure to let Kallen know." He said while putting his helmet back on and his armor hissed as it re-sealed.

"Good, I'm glad you understand how important Kallen is," The Captain said as she moved over to Kallen's holo pad. "Have you sorted yourself for a hard transfer, Kallen?"

"Yes ma'am I am ready when you are, but please, give me a moment." Kallen said as she looked over at Cornelius. "Will you be able to handle things here while I'm not around?" She asked jokingly.

"I'll be fine while your away." Cornelius said to his fellow AI as he looked back at her. "And one more thing, be careful and come back in one piece!"

"Don't you worry Cornelius, I promise to come back in one piece," Kallen said as she returned her attention back to the Captain. "Ma'am I'm ready to go!"

"Very well!" She said as Kallen's avatar vanish and she knelt down and ejected Kallen and her chip from the holo pad. Kallen's data crystal glowed with a warm red color when she wasn't interfaced. "This is when Kallen is at her most vulnerable." Captain Morton said as she stood up and turned to face Atrolus. "The only reason why she should have to be removed is when she is needed to access or interface with something else like that holo pad. Other wise you should always be interfaced with her."

"What's it like?" Atrolus asked.

"That is a question that I cannot answer." Andria replied as she held Kallen's chip with both hand's. "I guess you will just have to find out!"

"I guess so!" Atrolus said as he reached out and picked up Kallen's chip and brought it to the port on the back of his helmet and put it in. He felt his mind wash over with an icy cold feeling that slowly warmed up as Kallen interfaced with him.

"I'm greatly looking forward to working with you V84..." Kallen seemed to say from the back of his mind.

"Please, just call me Atrolus." He replied while still getting used to this new feeling. And then it was complete, he was fully interfaced with Kallen.

"You should get going Whiskey One." The Captain said as she glanced at the count down. "You have ten minutes now before we transition back to normal space. So you better get-a-move-on."

"Yes Ma'am!" Atrolus said as he brought his right hand up. The Captain did the same and they shook. "We'll get the job done!" He said as he let go and turned around to leave.

"Good luck you two!" Andria said as he was almost out the door.

"Likewise Ma'am." He replied and then was out the door and heading to the armory where hopefully the rest of his team would be as well.

When Atrolus arrived at that armory he found his team hard at work. Holland had found a motorized equipment cart and was in the process loading it with a wide variety of Assault rifles, Shot guns, DMRS, and M6 Magnum pistols. There was a box of frag grenades on the bottom rack of the cart along with an assortment of different types of ammunition for those weapons.

Close by Holland sat Drake. Drake was rummaging though a foot locker grabbing as much C-7 explosive as he could find. He already had three large equipment bags attached to his armor and was working on filling a fourth.

At the other side of the armory Laura was re-assembling "Richard" her mini gun. The rotating barrel had just been re-attached. Laura tested to see if her work was done correctly by pulling the weapon's trigger, she was rewarded with the whine of the gear mechanism spinning up. She had a high capacity metal ammunition back pack attached to her back and she had two more leaning on the bench she was standing by.

At the work bench beside Laura was Char, Char had two SRS99 Sniper Rifles. One had its barrel replaced with a larger barrel to accommodate the use of a .50 cal round. The other rifle was her spare. Char like Drake had three large equipment bags attached to her armor, in those bags sat sixteen clips of fifty Cal ammo and another eight for her back up.

Out of the corner of his eye Atrolus saw Lee standing by a computer terminal. Lee looked up at him and waved him over. "What do you have Lee?" Atrolus asked as he walked over.

"Something that only you can have." Lee said. "Just received the emergency activation codes for the FENRIS nuclear-warhead's from the Captain." He explained as he pointed at the monitor. "Orders are to give them to you and Kallen for safe keeping."

Atrolus pulled a larger hand held version of a tacpad out of one of the pockets on his chest and powered it up. The devise automatically linked with the ship and he entered a command to download the codes from the ships systems and uploaded them to Kallen. "Hang on to these for me would you?" He asked as he powered down the pad.

"Sure thing." Kallen said, "You should gear up too. The Captain wants you in the hanger soon, so there isn't much time to waist."

"I was just thinking the same thing." Atrolus said a he patted Lee on the shoulder "Get your gear, we move out soon and don't forget the com unit."

"Roger that, Commander." Lee said as he walked over to a rack of communications systems and grabbed the one they needed. Next he moved to a row of gun racks and picked up an MA5B Assault rifle and attached it to the magnetic strip on his back while he grabbed ten extra clips and loaded them in to his armors belt pockets. He also picked up an M6 Magnum along with ten spare magazines of the fifty cal high-explosive rounds.

Atrolus walked over to a rack of shot guns and grabbed a M90 Mk. One shotgun and two boxes of ammo. One box contained the standard issue Eight gauge Magnum buck shot. The other box had shells that fired three ounce lead slugs. Those rounds were perfect for getting kills at mid-range. After he had all the shot gun ammo loaded up he walked over and picked up a MA5B and with it a complement of eight clips of Armor Piercing rounds and eight clips of Shredder rounds and pocketed them away. He made sure to grab a few med kit's and kept one on himself and put the others on Holland's cart. Now he was ready to go. And so was everyone else. They were all standing by Holland and the door.

Holland had just finished up loading the cart and was now in the process of securing the cargo. He lifted a metal lid and placed it on the top of the cart and locked it down. He did the same with the lower compartment. Which now held Laura's extra ammo for Richard, Char's spare sniper rifle and an M-41 Rocket launcher with additional ammo.

"All right you guy's let's head for the hanger." Atrolus said as he walked up to the door and let it slide open. Holland and his cart were the first thing out the door followed by Lee and the others, Atrolus was the last one out. "Head to the main elevator, that's the fastest way to the hangar." He told them. In the lower right corner of his heads up display or HUD on his helmet's visor was the Ship's count down timer and it read 0:03:27. "That should be plenty of time to get to the hangar." He thought to himself.

As Whiskey team made their way to the elevator they passed a few crew members. Most of which stepped to the side and saluted while others stopped and stared as not one, but six Spartans walked passed them. The Spartans were used to this kind of treatment, however they didn't pay attention to their new fans and just moved on.

"Charlie Platoon, report to the hangar immediately!" Came the Captain'ss voice over the Prowler's intercom.

"Charlie platoon?" Char asked as she looked back over her left shoulder at Atrolus.

Atrolus just shrugged and kept walking. He then asked Kallen, "Who's Charlie Platoon?"

"Charlie Platoon is a team from the ODST special forces division." She answered over the team COM. "The Captain must think we're going to need their help with something."

"Great, ODST, that's the last thing we need here," Laura said sarcastically. "is a competition to see who's the better soldier."

"Oh, common! Their not all that bad," Drake added. "They're just not as good as us."

"We're here!" Holland said as he brought his cart to a stop in front of the elevator door.

"Okay, that's enough you guy's," Atrolus said as he walked past the others and pushed the button to summon the elevator. "Let's just go down there and see what this is all about."

A few seconds later the elevator arrived and the door slid open with a hiss. The Spartans then boarded the lift and Lee hit the button for the hangar. The door then closed and they were on their way down. Once they reached the hanger and the door opened they started moving out of the elevator. Atrolus was the last one off, when he stepped into the hangar he felt his balance shift slightly. He looked at the lower right hand corner of his HUD and saw the count down timer flashing red and blue while the numbers stayed at 0:00:00. They were making the transition back to normal space.

At the other side of the hangar was a group of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers that Atrolus assumed could only be Charlie Platoon. So he and his team started walking toward them. The ODST were standing around a matte black Pelican drop ship that had shark-teeth and eyes painted on it. The decals gave the vehicle an added scare factor, because if you saw that ship flying toward you, you'd know that it meant trouble.

As the Spartans got closer they could see the ODST's starting to notice them. "Hey Colonel!" One of them said as he walked across the hangar with a motorized equipment cart following him. "I have the gear you wanted me to grab, and look who decided to show up." He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb at the Spartans.

The Colonel looked up. He was holding a tacpad in his left hand while his helmet was tucked under his right arm. He had a salt and pepper colored mustache, and brown-gray hair. He stood at about Six foot, three inches tall. He had a picture of an ODST with an Elite locked under his left arm while his right hand was punching it in the face. He was a man who looked like he could accomplish anything he set his mind to. This was a very admirable trait even to the Spartans.

"I am Colonel Alexander Wagner." The man said as he put his tacpad in a large pocket on his belt. "I'm the leader of Charlie Platoon, we've been ordered by Captain Morton to assist your team on this mission."

Atrolus stepped past his team and said. "I'm Atrolus, Whiskey team's leader. That's Holland, Whiskey two, Lee, Whiskey three, Char, Laura and Drake, Whiskey's four, five, and six." He said as he gestured toward his team mate's. "We appreciate the help."

"Glad we can help!" said the Colonel. "We have somethings that should be of help to you Spartans. Sullivan where are you?" He called out.

"Right here, sir!" Came a reply from the trooper that had lead the cart across the hangar when the Spartans had arrived.

"Bring that cart over here." Colonel Wagner said as he looked at the trooper and waved him over. "Hurry up! We have a lot of things to do before we move out."

The trooper didn't respond he just nodded his head and walked over with the cart close behind him. He and his cart came to a stop in front of Whiskey team. From behind him came three more shock troopers and they removed the panels off the cart and set them a side.

"What we have here is some new armor upgrades." Sullivan said as he picked up one of the devices from the cart. "This guy here will allow you to deploy a defensive bubble shield around you and your team. Your shields will recharge a lot faster if you stand in the bubble, small arms and plasma weapons cannot penetrate this shield. However, if the shield takes too many hits it will collapse and then you will be exposed. Be warned, vehicles can pass through the shield, so if you see one coming toward you when your in the bubble you are going to want to move." He then set the device back in the cart.

"Each gadget has a holo projector built into it and will project an image to help you identify that specific piece of equipment's ability." He flipped a switch on the side of one of the devices and a blue circle appeared, with a figure of a blue man standing with his arms by his sides. "Each device is designed to attach to your armor, in the small of your back with the exception of the jet pack. An icon of that 'ability' will then come up in the lower left hand corner of your HUD along with an energy indicator bar. To activate the ability you just have to think about it and then you can move on. With others like this one..."

He hit the switch on a different device and a red circle appeared with a man that was crouched like he was going to tie his shoe. "Your armor will lock up and you will be protected by an impenetrable energy shield. Unfortunately you cannot move when you use this ability, so make sure that you use it wisely. The other ability's include: active camouflage, a hologram decoy, and sprint."

"Now each device has a limited power supply. Which means; after you have used it you will have to wait for it to recharge before you can use it again."

After Sullivan had finish telling the Spartans about the new gear he stepped back to let the Colonel speak. However, the Captain broke over the hangar's COM and said. "Spartan and ODST teams we have had a slight change of plans."


	2. Into the Unknown

Halo: Cataclysm's Contender

(Chapter 2) Into the Unknown

0620 Hours, May 2, 2552 (Military Calendar)/

UNSC Stealth Prowler Titans Shadow, In Slip Space,

En route from Aurora, to uncharted space on the extreme edge of the Luna System.

(Ten minutes before the transition back to normal space.)

"Good luck you two!" Captain Morton said as she watched the Spartan walk out the bridge door.

"Likewise ma'am." Came the Spartan's reply as he was well on his way to the armory.

She then turned around and saw Cornelius looking at her. Her gaze stayed on him and he nodded. "They look like a very capable bunch!" he said to her.

The Captain nodded in agreement, "They certainly do look that way, don't they?" she rhetorically asked, "What do you think about Kallen, You seemed particularly fond of her if you ask me."

Cornelius brought up his hand and made a dismissive, waving gesture. "Honestly, I'm glad that she is going and that I'm staying here on the ship." That comment was something that Cornelius would normally have used as a joke. However, he said it in a manner that clearly showed that he was uneasy. "When she was interfaced into the ship, when we left Aurora, She did a complete system scan of the entire ship, its crew log, and walked right through the security fire walls that I have set up to protect our mission files and other top-secret data. There was nothing that I could do to stop her even if I wanted too. She is clearly someone that is way too qualified to be a ship AI."

"So if she is gone now, don't worry about her. She has duties to preform and so do you," replied the Captain as she stepped up to the holo map and pulled up the mission file again. "I need you to get the emergency activation codes for the nukes down to the Spartan team in armory number one." She said while cycling through the images and stopped when she came to the artifact.

"Captain, I need your authorization code for the two war heads, please." Cornelius said as he set down his Roman shield and spear, the two items disappeared when he stood back up.

"Of course," She said as she pulled her key card from the pocket on her right hip and swiped it through the card reader on the table. She then entered her code and returned the card to the pocket. "That should do it!"

"Thank you," Cornelius said and bowed respectfully. "We have officially Five minutes before we exit slip-space. What are my order's, Madam Captain?" He asked as he placed his arms behind his back.

"Cornelius, I want you to focus on flying the ship and operating the point defense guns, if they're needed. It's your job to make sure that everything we need to use in order to accomplish our mission is done to the full!" The Captain said as she turned around and took a few steps away from the map and stared at the blackness out the forward view port. "Also, I want you to do a full scan of the surrounding area once we transition. I want to know if anything has happened that was not covered in the briefing!"

"Very well Ma'am, I'll take care of everything that you have asked me to." Cornelius said as he saluted. "I do have one question, however?"

"Oh, yeah! What would that be?" She said without taking her gaze off the front view port.

"What are you going to be doing while I fly the ship?" He asked as he crossed his arms.

"Its simple," She said as she spun on her heels to face him. "I'm going to give those Spartans the best chance that I can to have a successful mission."

"Simple indeed!" Cornelius said mockingly. "Well, I'll let you get to it Captain."

"Thank you Cornelius!" She said, Cornelius just nodded his head and focused his attention on his duties. By now the count down read 0:03:00, that should be enough time to do what she need too. Captain Morton then walked over to the map table and pressed a button that activated the ship wide COM system. "Charlie Platoon, report to the hangar immediately!" She said as she brought up Charlie Platoon's personal roster and looked it over while she waited for a reply.

"Charlie Leader here, we're already in the hangar Ma'am, what can we do for you today?" Came the voice of Colonel Wagner over the Captain's personal COM.

"Colonel, I have some very important people heading down to you right now. I need you and your men to assist them in every way you can. Also I need you to get two Pelicans ready for a cold flight through vacuum and," She said as she pulled up the hangar's inventory manifest. "There should be a container down there with a few FENRIS nuclear-warheads inside, you need to grab two of them. If anything else comes up I'll let you know."

"Copy that Ma'am," Came his reply. "I'll get my people to work."

"Glad to hear it. Be ready to move on a moments notice." Said the Madam Captain and then the COM went silent. She took a step away from the table, let out a deep breath and turned around to face the bridge crew. In front of her sat four senior officers from the ONI naval academy on Reach.

The bridge was set up in such a way that there were two forward and two rear crew stations. The forward right station was for navigation, while the forward left was for radar and other sensors. The rear right station was for weapons and the left was for communications.

Sitting at the navigation terminal was Lieutenant Casey Grant. Casey had a short military hair cut and always wore a serious face. Sitting at the sensors station next to him was Lieutenant Natalie Weaver. Natalie had shoulder length brown hair, she never wore her hair down, instead she always had it up in a tight bun on the back of her head. At the weapons console behind Casey was Lieutenant Troy Baldwin. Troy was usually seen wearing a standard issue UNSC cap. Today however, he was not wearing the hat, instead he sported a full head of black hair that was neatly slicked back. Sitting to his left at COMs was Lieutenant Lena Summers. Lena stood out the most, out of the entire bridge crew. Unlike the others who were born on Inner Colony worlds, Lena was born on Aurora. The very planet they had left a little more than 36 hours ago. Aurorans were known throughout the UNSC for having bright and vivid natural hair colors that spread across the entire spectrum of the rainbow. Lena's hair was a vibrant, almost glowing red color. She wore a traditional Auroran hair style, where her hair was kept in two, partially braided, large twin tails, each tied off with a black ribbon, one each side of her head while a portion flowed freely down her back.

Lena saw the Captain looking at her and asked, "Is there a problem Ma'am?"

The question took a few seconds to register with the Captain and then as if being shaken from her thoughts Captain Morton replied, "Um, what?"

"Ma'am, I just asked if there were any problems!" Lena said with a slightly agitated expression on her face.

"Oh, Sorry about that Lieutenant," The Captain said as her cheeks blushed a little with embarrassment. "I was just thinking about other things."

"I see," said Lt. Summers. "However, Ma'am, we have about thirty seconds until we make the transition. You might want to take a seat." she advised as she buckled her own safety restraints around her torso.

"Yeah, this could be a little bumpy." Lieutenant Grant said without taking his attention away from his station.

"Very well, and thank you Lieutenant!" The Captain said as she walked over and sat in the Captains chair and fastened the safety restraints around her waist. She watched as the seconds slowly decreased to zero. Right as the countdown hit zero the image out the forward view port changed from the solid black of slip-space to a bright exit of an interdenominational tunnel. The Titan's Shadow slowed dramatically as it exited slip-space. The drop in speed tightened the restraints of the Captains command chair. Once the ship had slowed down enough the restraints loosened; the Captain unbuckled and said. "Cornelius, Status!"

"We have just, successfully, re-entered normal space. Our cloaking systems are online and running, beginning scan of area within one hundred million kilometers of the Titan's Shadow, now!" Cornelius replied. After a few seconds past Cornelius spoke again. "Scan complete, bringing it up on the holo map now."

On the holo map the results form the AI's scans appeared. The Titan's Shadow appeared on the very edge of the map. In the center of the map was the artifact as well as the Covenant scouting fleet. However something was wrong, Cornelius had done a total ship count of the Covenant fleet. There where now ninety ships, thirty more than were reported on in the briefing.

"Cornelius, I need you to identify the ships from the new Covenant fleet." Andria said, "And please give me an E.T.A. to the artifact."

"Alright," Cornelius replied, "There... That should do it."

On the map the newest arrivals of the Covenant fleet were flagged with class identification markers. The ships were a combination of one Covenant Super Carrier, two Assault Carriers, four CCS- Battle Cruisers, eight Destroyers, and fifteen Corvette class Frigates. The Covenant Super Carrier was docked with the artifact. The Captain didn't see the ship until Cornelius flagged it. This was a bad sign, that could only mean one thing. The Hierarch had arrived. In the upper right corner of the map was the E.T.A. 0:08:00.

Captain Morton looked over at the AI and said. "Cornelius I need you to pull up the ONI mission file code named 'Operation: Red Flag'."

Cornelius looked back at the her and said. "Here it is, Captain." A moment later the file appeared on a monitor on the side of the map table.

Andria then looked over at Lieutenant Summers and said. "Summers, I need you to open a line to the hangar!" she said as a little panic crept into her voice.

"Right away Ma'am!" Summers replied as she typed in a few commands into her console and gave the Captain the thumbs up.

"Spartan and ODST teams we have had a slight change of plans." Captain Morton said as she moved to the screen and scrolled through the contents of: "Operation: Red Flag". She stopped at phase four on the mission directive and read over the objective: "...The capture of a Covenant Prophet for negotiating purposes..."

Lieutenant Summers spoke up again, "Ma'am, Whiskey leader and Charlie leader are requesting an open COM channel to the bridge." Summers looked up at the Captain, "What do you want me to do?"

"Open a channel," Captain Morton said as she looked back at the communications officer. "Let them through."

Lieutenant Summers didn't say anything, she just nodded and pressed a button on her console and opened a channel.

Moments later Atrolus voice came over the bridge COM. "What do you mean 'a slight change of plans?' Captain, what's going on?"

"It's the Hierarch..." She said while trying to remain calm and not yell through her COM. "He is already here and he brought his own fleet with him!"

"So what are we doing? Are we dropping the plan from the briefing, and going to drop some nukes and run instead?" Came Atrolus reply.

"No, your orders remain the same! However, I am initiating Operation: Red Flag, phase Four! Kallen should have a copy of the Operation's instructions. Sorry to make things a little more difficult for you."

"Thank you for the update Ma'am!" Came the Colonel's voice over the bridge COM. "Was there anything else you wanted to add?"

"Yes," Morton paused for a second to collect her thoughts...

"You are going to need to have someone E.V.A. over to the artifact so you can gain access to the ship for you and the others." Cornelius added for the Captain. "Someone will have to get in through the airlock on the right side of the hangar and open it from the inside."

(Down in the hangar)

"Lee and myself will do it." Atrolus said over his COM to the others in the hangar and to the Captain. "Kallen and I will open the airlock while Lee sets up or single beam COM transmitter. From there we will get inside and open the hangar door."

"Alright,"said Andria. "Colonel I'm authorizing the deployment and use of vehicles once you're on board. You have access to whatever you can find in the hangar."

"Roger that Captain!" Colonel Wagner replied as he did a quick look around the hangar. Not to far from where he and the others were standing was a row of eight warthogs. Each hog' was secured onto an individual equipment rack that was designed for equipment drops in the field. Each rack had a motorized wench with a five hundred foot magnetic tether cable attached to it. That is what they would use to get their equipment on board.

"Whatever you guy's are going to need you better get it ready quick. We will arrive at the drop point in five minutes." Andria said. "You won't have much time to mess around once we get there so be ready to move. Good luck to all of you!" And the COM went silent.

The Colonel then turned around to face the other troopers of Charlie Platoon and said. "You heard the Captain, we move out soon. I want those hogs," He pointed at the row of secured warthogs. "ready to be towed over to the other ship as well as our weapons and other gear."

"Excuse me sir, but towed?" Asked a trooper who had just finished securing a crate of weapons.

"That's right Gunny!" Wagner said. "we're going to use the wenches on the equipment racks and tow our vehicles aboard that ship from the outside. I'm going to need ten volunteers who will jump over and attach the tether cables once the doors are open. Anyone interested?"

Immediately every member of the platoon raised their hand. "That's what I like to see, enthusiasm!" Wagner thought to himself. He then turned to the Spartans and said. "If you have anything that needs to be hauled just let us know and we'll get it."

"We have this cart here that we're going to need." Holland said as he patted the cart as if it was a pet of some kind.

"Is there anything else?" The Colonel asked.

"No," Holland answered. "this is all of it."

"Alright then, I'll have one of my troopers get your gear stowed away." Wagner said. "Now if there are no other items of interest I..."

Drake raised his hand. "Did you already get the nukes?" he paused and then added. "And where are the thruster packs we need?"

Wagner nodded his head a few times. "Yeah we got the nukes on board the second Pelican. And... As for those thruster packs..." He trailed off and looked around at his platoon until he found the trooper he was looking for and then called out. "Sullivan, do you have those thruster packs?"

"Um," Sullivan did a quick once over of his cart and replied. "Yep, there right here sir!" he said as he pointed at them.

"There you go," Colonel Wagner told to the Spartans. "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go help my men get ready." He nodded to them, turned and walked over to some troopers who were loading crates into the back of the shark faced Pelican.

After the Colonel had moved away; the Spartans walked over to Sullivan's cart and each grabbed a thruster pack. The thruster packs were similar to the Jet packs that Sullivan had shown them earlier. Each pack attached seamlessly to the back of their armor, with the exception of Laura who had to remove her high capacity ammo pack in order to put her's on.

After Whiskey team had their EVA packs equipped and synchronized with their armor they turned their attention to helping the ODST's with their gear. Lee was re-attaching the panels to Sullivan's cart when Atrolus walked over to him. "Are you almost ready!" Atrolus asked, Lee simply nodded his head. Atrolus then asked him. "Are you sure? If there is anything that you need to get you should do it now."

"Commander the only thing that I'm not carrying is you." Lee said sarcastically. "Other than that I'm ready!" he said and gave Atrolus the thumbs up.

"Good, we should be..." Atrolus stopped talking when his COM chimed an alert sound followed by the Captain's voice.

"Whiskey One," said the Captain. "are you and Whiskey Three ready?"

"Affirmative," Atrolus replied.

"Good..." Replied Morton and then Atrolus COM went silent. A moment later Captain Morton's voice came over the hangar's intercom. "All Non-combat personal please exit the hangar immediately!"

From around the hangar crews of deck hands made there way to the exits at the rear of the hangar. After the crews were gone the Captain spoke again. "All combat teams in the hangar prepare for atmospheric decompression." The troopers who didn't have their helmets on, domed them, and a moment later the air in the hangar began to be pumped out. Captain Morton then came over Atrolus COM again and said. "Whiskey One, you and Whiskey Three need to pass through the airlock at the front of the hangar and EVA over to the artifact."

"Roger that," he said while he motioned to Lee to follow and switched over to his team COM channel and said. "Whiskey Two, your in charge while Lee and myself are away."

"Good luck Commander," Holland replied.

Atrolus looked over at his team and the ODST's, all of them saluted. Atrolus stopped, returned the salute and continued walking toward the airlock. When he was close enough to the airlock it automatically slid open to reveal a small room and another door on the other side with a red status light above it. The two Spartans stepped inside and the door behind them closed and sealed with a hiss. A few seconds past as the atmospheric pressure, inside, equalized with the space outside the airlock. The light above the door in front of them then turned green and the door silently slid opened.

Outside the door like picture frame of the outer airlock door was the Artifact. The hull of the ship was made out of a, shimmering, platinum gray colored metal alloy material.

Lee and Atrolus made there way to the edge of the airlock and stopped. Atrolus then turned to look at Lee and raised up his right arm and made a fist with his hand and said over the team COM. "Just encase something goes wrong and one of us dies, it's been nice knowing ya!" Lee didn't reply he just reached up and bumped Atrolus fist with his own.

Atrolus then turned around, swapped his shot gun for his MA5B assault rifle and took a few steps back. With his rifle held tightly in hand he ran forward and jumped out of the airlock into the void between the Titan's Shadow and the Artifact.

He let the momentum from his jump carry him for a few seconds while he did a quick scan for anything that might cause him trouble. Nothing was found. He then winked his green status light three times giving Lee the all clear signal to jump out and join him. A second later he saw Lee's status light flashed green.

"Are you alright?" Kallen asked in a concerned yet soothing voice, "your heart rate and breathing are elevated."

"Yeah, just give me a few seconds," Atrolus said. There were only a few things in life that scared him, and this was one of them. A lack of control or at least little to no control was what set him on edge. And leaping through space toward an unknown ship that he knew almost nothing about didn't do much to help him relax.

However, the words of a man that he greatly respected came to his mind, "If you're having trouble doing something for yourself, then don't," Chief Mendez would say, "But, remember, you have a team, your friends that are counting on you, so push those fears aside and do it for them."

"That's right," he thought to himself, "My friends are counting on me!" And with that thought he took a deep breath, closed his eye's for a moment, and did his best to push through his fear. He then asked Kallen, "Okay, what am I looking for?"

Before she spoke a NAV marker appeared on his HUD and a yellow rectangle highlighted the airlock door, "There's your target," She answered, "All you need to do for now is, get us there."

"Alright." Atrolus replied. The NAV marker was a little over fifty meters away. The speed he was traveling at was good, however, at the rate he was going, it would take him a good five minutes before he would reach the NAV point. It was time to use his thruster pack, so he focused himself on the target and activated his thruster pack in small half second bursts and slowly made his way to the marker.

Every ten meters Kallen would call out the remaining distance. When he was four meters away from the airlock he started to slowly rotate and line himself up so he could activate his magnetic boots when he landed on the ship. Lee did the same and a few seconds later they were both standing on the artifact.

"All right Kallen, now what?" Atrolus asked as he watched Lee start working on the single beam COM transmitter.

"Do you see the square pad to the right of the door?" Kallen asked as Atrolus looked down at his feet.

When he found it a few seconds later he said, "Found it, now what?"

"All you need to do is place your left hand on the pad." Kallen answered.

Atrolus did as she told him. He moved over to the pad, crouched down and placed his left hand on the pad. The moment he touched the pad he felt her withdraw from him and into the ship. The feeling made him feel sick to his stomach. But after a few seconds had passed he felt Kallen re-interface with him and the outer airlock door opened. "good work!" He said as he turned to face Lee who was just finishing with the COM device. Lee gave Atrolus the thumbs up and Atrolus returned the gesture and pointed at the door, all in the same motion. Lee nodded and entered with Atrolus right behind him.

Once the two Spartans had stepped inside, the airlock door closed behind them. A few seconds past and the inner door opened to reveal a large dark space.

"Change over to your night vision," Atrolus said as he made the adjustment to his vizor.

"Already on it..." Lee trailed off mid-sentence as he saw what was in the room ahead.

In front them sat a row of six, thirty feet tall metal giants. Each of the machines were in the shape of a human, having two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head. The chest had two retracting doors that when open would allow a driver to enter and exit. The inner portion of the chest was hollow; there were no visible controls that the Spartans could see that would be used to pilot the mech's. The head of the mech housed a single large sky blue robotic eye. The eye had a protective cover that came to a point just above the center of the eye and gave it a mean looking scowl.

"What is this place?" Lee asked.

"Lee," Atrolus bellowed, "The questions can wait, we need to get our people on board remember!"

"Right!" Lee replied and nodded his head.

"There should be a switch to open the hangar door at the front left side of the door." Kallen said to the two Spartans. "But before you open the door I'll need to interface with the console."

"Okay," Atrolus said as he looked around. He saw the console right where Kallen said it would be. He walked over to the door controls, stopped and looked at his left hand and asked Kallen. "So, do I just touch it like last time or what?"

"Yes, just like last time, place your hand on the control panel and I'll take care of the rest." She answered in a reassuring voice. "I'm just going to temporally shut down the artificial gravity systems in the hangar, to make it easier for the ODST's to get their equipment over here."

"Alright," Atrolus said, "But make it quick. I don't like you being in a foreign system by yourself."

"I'll have to stay in the system until the ODST's have finished so I can re-engage the artificial gravity systems." Kallen said, "Is there anything that you want me to do, while I'm in there?"

"Yeah," Atrolus answered, "I want you to get a map of the ship, determine where we should plant our nukes and find out where the Covenant are hiding!"

"Okay," Kallen said as Atrolus reached out his hand and set it on the control panel. Kallen then withdrew into the Ships system and Atrolus felt sick to his stomach again.

After a few seconds past and the sick feeling faded and Atrolus changed over to Whiskey team's COM channel and said, "Whiskey two, this is Whiskey Leader, do you copy, over?"

Several seconds passed and then Holland replied, "Whisker Leader this is Whiskey Two, I read you loud and clear." Atrolus turned and looked at Lee and gave him the thumbs up for a nice job with the COM transmitter, and Lee returned the gesture. Atrolus then said to Holland, "The door should be open soon, you and the troopers ready?"

"Yes sir, we're ready and waiting!" Holland replied.

"Good," Atrolus said and paused as Kallen appeared right beside him standing at her actual human height. Compared to him she was short, however her height was quite common. She was five feet seven inches tall. "Hang on a second Holland." He said.

"Everything is ready!" she said, "All you need to do is press the button."

"Excellent," Atrolus said, "Holland we're opening the door now!"

"Copy that!" Holland said.

Atrolus reached out and pressed the large blue rectangle in the middle of the console. Instantly the door mechanism gave off a loud mechanical groan as the door started to move. The door separated into four pointed sections that began to retract into the hangar walls, one on the right and the left, as well as, the top and bottom. The mechanism made a loud clang, that shook the hangar, when it had finished retracting the door into the walls.

(In the hangar of the Titan's Shadow)

"Holland we're opening the door now!" Atrolus said.

"Copy that!" Holland replied. He then switch over to the ODST COM channel and called out. "Alright everyone this is it! Once that door is open we move!" Holland then walked over to the hangar controls for the Titan's Shadow and pressed the button that read: Full Access. Yellow warning lights began to go off all around the hangar. Then the hangar floor began to descend downward and came to a stop after a few seconds had passed by. The floor was connected to the ship by four massive metal beams. One being at each corner of the platform.

Holland then turned to look at the ship they we're all about to jump over too. It was beautiful, larger than he had imagined it being, it was awe inspiring. He then focused on the other ships hangar and saw Atrolus walk to the middle and start waving them over.

To Hollands left were the ODST's who had volunteered to move the warthogs over to the other ship. One by one they fired off there Co2 thruster packs and went flying towards the hangar with the magnetic winch lines connected to there armor. Once they landed, they'd removed the line from their armor and re-attached it to the floor of the hangar, then a trooper that was still on the Titan's Shadow would activate the electric winch and the hog' would be on it's way over. Other troopers did similar things with equipment crates and weapon cart's like the one Holland had. The pelicans were the last to go. Char, Laura, Holland, and Drake each flew escort as the pelicans flew between the two ships.

Once the other Spartans and Charlie Platoon were on board Atrolus switched over to the Captains COM channel and said. "Ma'am we've all made it aboard the Ship, you are clear to pull away now."

(On the bridge of the Titan's Shadow)

"Roger that Whiskey one," the Captain said, "good luck to all of you. We'll be back to pick you up as soon as you give the word."

"Copy that Ma'am!" Came Atrolus reply. "Whiskey One, over and out." And the Captain's COM went silent.

"Cornelius, I need you to close up the hangar please!" Morton ordered the ship AI.

"Already done Ma'am, we are clear to leave." Cornelius answered the Captain.

"Alright then, Lieutenant Grant, we've been given the all clear. Let's back off and monitor the situation from a safe distance." Said the Captain as she walked over and sat in the Captains chair.

"Aye, aye, Ma'am," Lieutenant Grant said as he plotted a new course into the navigation's console.

(In the Hangar of the Cataclysm's Contender)

"Copy that Ma'am!" Atrolus replied. "Whiskey One, over and out." He then walked back over to the hangar door control panel where Kallen was standing.

"I've gathered the information you requested, as well as, a few other things, including the name of this ship." Kallen said while she was leaning up against the wall by the control panel with her arms crossed over her chest. "It's called the Cataclysm's Contender."

"The Cataclysm's Contender..." Atrolus thought, "what and odd name to give a ship."

"Good work Kallen," Atrolus said, "all that's left is to re-engage the artificial gravity systems and close the hangar door and we'll go from there."

"Sounds good to me!" said Kallen as her hologram disappeared, "I'll re-engage the gravity as soon as the hangar door is closed."

"Thank you Kallen!" Atrolus said as he pressed the same button he pushed to open the door, to close it. The door mechanism made another loud groan sound as it came to life and the door began to close. Moments later the door closed completely and made another loud clang that shook the hangar. With the door closed, Kallen re-engaged the artificial gravity systems. When that happened, anything that was not secured to the floor fell and multiple thuds could be heard from around the hangar. The life support systems also came online and fresh air started to be pumped into the hangar...


	3. Visions of Change

Hello again everyone! Sorry for the (extra) Long delay between chapters. I (for a long time) couldn't decide what direction I wanted to go. However after lots of thought and contemplation it hit me, what fun is it to tell a one sided story. (Now that I think about it, it's tons of fun!) And that's when I decided to hop the border, over into the Covenant side of things. And that is what this chapter is all about. The Covenant.

But before you start reading there are a few things you need to know. And that being for the most part how to read the character names. Here is a breakdown of the ones you need to know for this chapter...

Note: That the break down of the names are most likely incorrect. However I am breaking it down in the way that I read the names, so that you the reader can better understand how I'd say them.

Kesh 'Rtaumee (Ra- too-mee)

Ento 'Zokulee (Zoe-cool-lee)

Iash (I-ash) 'Oimatee (Oy- mot-tee)

And the last thing. The ship that the chapter takes place on was originally not part of the fleet that was discovered. However, the Covenant Super Carrier is the ship that is seen docked with the Cataclysm's Contender not the Covenant Assault Carrier that is mentioned in the prior chapter.

Okay, I think that I've covered everything that needed to be covered.

So without anymore delay by the author. Here is:

Halo: Cataclysm's Contender: Chapter Three: Visions of Change (Part One) Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Halo: Cataclysm's Contender<p>

(Chapter 3) Visions of Change (Part One)

Second Cycle, 004 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar) \

Covenant Super Carrier, Divine Victory; Flag ship of the Fleet of Transcendent Reconstruction; Flag ship of the Prophet of Ambition; En route to the newly discovered Forerunner Artifact,

(In the Private Sanctum of Sangheili Champion: Kesh 'Rtaumee)

Kesh 'Rtaumee stared at his reflection in the violet colored alloyed panels that lined the interior of his room. He kept staring with his amber colored eyes and the Kesh in the reflection stared right back. He was a tall, proud and mighty warrior among the Covenant. This fact was made clear by the black and gold colored armor configuration that he wore. Kesh 'Rtaumee was a Sangheili or Elite Zealot, as he had heard many humans call him right before they were executed on the battlefield.

Even though the Humans referred to his race as Elites and not Sangheili, he was still impressed that some had enough honor to acknowledge his rank, even in the face of death. However, this wasn't always the case, and the two jaw mandibles missing on the right side of his face were proof of that fact. The humans, however weak, never died quietly. They would always fight until they had wiped out their enemy, or until they where wiped out themselves.

"How much longer will this war with the Humans continue?" Kesh thought to himself as he reached up and massaged the area, behind, where his right jaw bones had once been. "Our forces would be better spent looking for the relics our gods left behind for us, and thus furthering us down the path toward the Great Journey, instead of having us fight these Humans."

Kesh was shaken from his thoughts when he heard the lock on his door chime and then open. Standing in the door way was Ento 'Zokulee. Ento, like Kesh, was a mighty warrior among the ranks of the Covenant and a fellow zealot.

Ento put his right arm over his chest and bowed respectfully and said, "My Brother, we've been summoned to the arena."

Kesh made a low laugh and said in a deep voice, "Do they really wish to challenge the Prophet's Champion this early in the day, what fools?" He paused and looked at Ento, "How many?"

"At least, twenty," Ento replied, "What are you thinking Kesh! These warriors are our Brothers!"

"Wrong!" Kesh growled, "They have yet to earn the right to be called my Brothers. Regardless, of the fact that they are of the same race as you and I. They have yet to prove themselves in battle. Then and only then will they become my Brothers."

Ento nodded his head understandingly. He knew that Kesh wanted only the best and sharpest warriors fighting along with him in battle. He didn't want those who were after glory and praise by his side, he wanted those who fought to preserve alive their fellow Sangheili. Warriors like that were true Brothers, all the praise and glory they could ever want would come, and stories of there actions would be chronicled in their Keeps, back on their home world of Sanghelios, for the generations after them to marvel at. This fact was proven by both Kesh and Ento being alive to this day. They had come across things in the past that would have destroyed them had they acted on there own. They had become true Brothers because of this war.

Kesh looked at Ento and said, "Those who cannot work together shall perish!" Kesh made a fist with his right hand and stared at it. He looked at Ento once more, and asked, "Are you with me, Brother?"

Ento again put his right arm over his chest and bowed respectfully saying, "I will fight by your side until the end." After another pause Ento looked up at Kesh and said with a sly voice, "Grab your weapons, its time for us to meet our new Brothers!"

Kesh nodded in agreement as he picked up and attached a dark cape to his armor, he then picked up and equipped his combat vizor to the front of his helmet, completely hiding his face. Following that, he walked over to the charging station that was built into the wall by his anti-gravity bed; he retrieved his weapons. He picked up two inactive energy sword hilts and placed them in the auxiliary weapon's compartment on the lower back of his armor. He then grabbed two more inactive hilts and placed one the magnetic plate on his left thigh and one on his right.

"Let us see if any of those whelps have what it takes." He said as he walked past Ento and out of his sanctum.

(The Prophet of Ambition's war chamber)

The Prophet of Ambition gazed in wonder. In the room before him was a large holographic image of the Artifact his scouts had found not long ago. The relic was beautiful. With its elegant form and sleek curve; it truly looked like something that would belong to a god.

Ambition laughed with satisfaction to himself. "At long last," he thought, "I've found the tool that will allow me too correct the sins that have been committed by that Idiot: Truth, and his accomplices; Regret and Mercy. Soon our Covenant will once again tread down the holy path that leads to the Great Journey. And this gift left behind by the gods will be the key to our transcendence!" He thought as continued to gaze at the image.

"However, there is still much the much work to be done," Ambition said aloud as he pressed a symbol on the right arm of his throne. That switch activated a link that allowed the Prophet to communicate with the bridge of his ship. "Ship Master," he called out.

"I am here, Holy One?" Came the sound of Divine Victory's Ship Master.

"Ship Master, how much longer will it take to reach the relic?"

"We will arrive at the Artifact within two units," Answered the Ship Master. "Was there anything else you wished to ask?"

"No, however if anything arises I will inform you." Ambition said. He then touched the symbol again and severed the connection. Then after a brief pause, he pressed another symbol, this time on the left arm of his throne and called out, "Cerberus come forth!"

Behind the Prophet appeared a hologram of a tall cloaked figure. There were no other visible features as to whom or what the AI was modeled after. The cloak was the only identifier. Everything else was covered in shadows and hidden away.

"My lord has summoned me, what does he require?" Came a low sinister voice from the AI.

"Tell me," pondered Ambition, "where is my Champion?"

"Your Champion is heading toward the ship's arena," came Cerberus' dark reply. "He and another Zealot are headed there."

Ambition sat silent for a moment and then quarried, "Why!"

"It seems, a rather sizable lot of Sangheili warriors have gathered in the arena. It would appear that they've challenged your Champion." assessed the AI.

"Most interesting," Ambition mumbled as he turned his throne to face the AI. "Join me there in my personal viewing chamber at the arena."

"As you wish my lord." Cerberus' figure bowed and then faded into the shadows.

Ambition then headed for the arena himself.

(The Divine Victory's Arena)

The journey to the arena, from his sanctum was one of silence and concentration. The two warriors were preparing themselves for what was soon to transpire. Kesh and Ento rounded another corner and came to a stop in front of a large blast door. On the door, written in Covenant text, was the word: Arena.

"I'll get the door," Ento said as he walked past Kesh and up to the controls on the door, and pressed the symbol that unlocked the door. The lock mechanism in the center of the door chimed and rotated clockwise. The panels that formed the door then retracted into the walls, thus opening the door.

Beyond was a large rectangular room that was separated into three levels. The first level was the pit or the area where warriors would do battle. The second level consisted of private box seats that were reserved for high ranking officials. The top level was for the spectators who wished to watch the event's that took placed in the pit, but were of lower rank. The arena was normally packed with spectators from every race that formed the Covenant. However, it was still early in the day and the spectators were few.

Kesh and Ento slowly entered the arena and the blast door behind them automatically closed and locked. Before them stood a large mob of Sangheili warriors of various ranks of colored armor. At the front of the mob stood a tall warrior wearing black armor.

"At last you have come!" bellowed the black armored Elite. That statement caught the attention of the others that were standing around him, as well as, those who were watching from the stands. "We," The black Elite made a sweeping gestured at the mob behind him, "were beginning to suspect that you had run away, and yet here you are."

Kesh wasn't phased by this Elite's attempt to intimidate him. He was just showing off to those around him, trying to make himself seem like something he was not. Kesh disliked this Elite very much. Arrogance was something that should be kept off the battlefield. It was a sign of weakness and a lack of honor.

Kesh crossed his arms over his chest and said in a low powerful voice, "What is your name?"

The black Elite was caught of guard by this question. Why would the champion want to know his name? The thought angered him. "You have no right to know my name!" He bellowed.

"You will answer, Whelp!" Growled Ento as he pointed at the Elite.

The black Elite snarled with rage, "My name is Iash 'Oimatee, and I will kill him!" He said as he pointed at Kesh while looking at Ento

"Is that so?" Kesh asked the enraged Elite.

"Yes it is so!" Bellowed Iash, "I will kill you, my Brother!"

"You are a child! Not my Brother!" Kesh growled as he unfolded his arms and pointed at Iash, "That is all you are and nothing more. If you were my Brother you would've had enough honor to come and challenge me yourself, however, you have no honor. And a child without honor is dead."

"I will kill you!" Iash growled again as he reached for his energy sword, "You had better prepare yourself!" He said as he flicked his wrist activating his sword's blue plasma blade.

"So be it!" Kesh said as he reached up and detached his cape from his right shoulder and then from his left. He let his cape fall to the ground behind him.

Iash growled as he charged forward at Kesh with is energy sword held low and off to his side. He was sure he could kill the Champion with a single blow.

Kesh waited as his rival charged him. As he drew closer and closer Kesh got ready, until Iash was right on top of him. Kesh leaped into the air avoiding the first attack of the battle, he came down and landed in a semi-crouch with an inactive sword hilt in each hand. He then turned to face Iash who had turned around and was getting ready for another pass. While still in a semi-crouch; with his arms out to his sides looking like he was going to tackle something, Kesh flicked his wrist's, activating his energy swords. The action stopped Iash dead in his tracks. The blades of the weapons Kesh held were dark red.

"What are you waiting for?" Iash barked at the mob of elites behind Kesh. "You to wish to challenge the Champion, correct?"

It took the mob of Elites a few seconds to register the call for help. Seconds later many energy swords could be seen, being thrust into the air, followed by a powerful battle cry. The mob began to charge forward, but stopped as Ento stepped in front of them. Ento like Kesh held a red energy sword in each hand.

"You couldn't possibly have thought that I'd just stand by and let you attack the Champion while I'm by his side?" Ento taunted as he took an aggressive stance. He brought his left sword's hilt up to his chest, while extending his right sword forward, pointing at the nearest challenger. "If you did, then you're terribly mistaken!"

The mob, again, thrust their swords into the air along with another battle cry and charged forward! After a few steps, the Elite at the front of the mob leaped into the air with his sword up, readying to bring it down for a heavy strike. However he was unsuccessful, because just when he was about to strike, Ento brought up his left energy sword and plunged it deep into his chest, killing him instantly.

Ento swiftly swung his left arm outward and down behind him; throwing the lifeless body from his blade. In the same motion he brought up his right sword and swung across the chest of another Elite sending it spinning off and colliding with another. His next attack connected with another energy sword. The look on his opponent's face was one of triumph, until he saw Ento bring up his other sword, he was powerless and unable to defend himself as Ento drove it into his chest. Ento struck down several more challengers in like manner, doing his best to keep the mob away from Kesh.

(The Prophet of Ambition's private arena box seats)

The door to the Prophet's box slid open. The interior of the box was dark, with the lighting turned off. That changed as Ambition entered. The rooms sensors detected the presence of life and activated the rooms lighting and other luxuries. The room was lined with the same violet colored panels that lined the rest of the Divine Victory's interior. There was a private bar and concession area, on the right side of the room. At the far end of the box, opposite the entrance, was a balcony that over looked the arena's pit, just below him.

Ambition maneuvered his throne forward, onto the balcony and up to the protective railing. He looked around and surveyed the other boxes on the second level. All but his were dark and lifeless. He did a quick sweep of the arena's third level as well. It was very much like the second; with only a few spectators present.

Behind him appeared Cerberus. Its hologram moved up to the prophets left. Cerberus raised his left cloaked arm and gestured at the pit. "The competition has begun." He spoke with a low and dark tone.

Ambition looked down and watched the battle unfold. He saw his Champion at the far end of the pit, wielding his red energy swords, with his back toward him, facing off with a black armored Elite. Closer to him he saw the mob of Elites charging another Elite. This Elite also wielded two red energy swords.

Ambition watched as the mob rushed the Elite closest to him. In the blink of an eye, this warrior tore into the mob striking down half-a-dozen rivals, with swift and fluid movements. The warrior's movements made it so he appeared to dance across the floor with a line of fallen enemies in his wake.

"Who is the one fighting the charge?" Ambition asked Cerberus without turning away from the battle.

"The one closest to us is a Sangheili Zealot named: Ento 'Zokulee." Cerberus answered, "He is part of your Champion's personal warriors."

The Prophet did not reply with any words, only with a few nods of the head as watched and pondered over that name, Ento 'Zokulee. He recalled that his Champion and this Zealot had been Brothers of war long before he met either of them. It was of no surprise to him that these two would be fighting along side one another, here.

(In the pit of the Arena)

Seeing Ento mow down members of the mob who were charging into the battle only enraged Iash even more. "How was this possible?" He kept asking himself, "No warrior, no matter how strong could survive a battle against these odds!" Or so he thought.

"Whelp!" Kesh barked at Iash.

The Champion's call shook Iash from his thoughts and brought his attention back to focus on Kesh. Iash looked at Kesh with a deep seething anger in his heart. "What?" Iash growled.

Kesh smiled underneath his combat visor. "You were the one who wished to slay me moments ago," Kesh said, "Why don't you try, with whatever scraps of honor you may have, to accomplish your goal!"

"As you wish," Iash said, "But first you must make it an even fight!"

"There may be hope for you yet!" Said Kesh as he deactivated his left sword and placed the hilt on his left thigh. "Now, shall we continue?"

Iash said nothing in reply, instead he charged forward. Kesh did the same, he ran forward to meet his rivals challenge. Their swords came together with a bright clash and exchange of sparks. The two combatants hopped away from each other only to jump forward again and repeat the attack.

The two warriors backed off once more. Iash started again, this time striking first and much faster than before. Iash spun around and brought his blade up to deliver a powerful blow to the Champion's head. But to no avail. Kesh blocked the attack and batted away his rivals sword.

Iash swung his blade quickly, only contacting the Champion's blade for brief moments. The two warriors danced across the floor of the pit, locked in their duel.

Kesh was toying with his opponent. He was letting Iash do most of the attacking, letting the fool ware himself out. He didn't know how this Elite got to the rank he was, or even how he got to be part of the Covenant Spec. Op's. Frankly Kesh didn't care. All he knew was that the Elite was unworthy to be in the position he was in now. And that it was time to fix this flaw in the Sangheili ranks. It was time to end this.

Iash came in again to unleash another round of attacks. He swung his sword like and ax and brought it down with all his might. The blue and red blades collided, releasing a massive burst of sparks. The blades hissed angrily as the two warriors continued to put on the pressure. Iash was trying to use his weight to over power Kesh. And form his prospective it appeared that it was working, the Champion was starting weaken. However, what appeared as weakness was really just an act. For just as Iash thought he was about to finish the fight, Kesh brought up his left hand and delivered a heavy blow to the left side of Iash' head, followed by swift kick to the chest, which sent Iash stumbling backward; landing on his back.

Kesh waited as he watched Iash pick himself up off the ground. "It is time to finish this pathetic excuse of a duel!" Kesh bellowed as he brought his sword up and pointed it at Iash. "Your existence ends here!"

Iash looked at Kesh and shook his head from side to side. "You are mistaken, Champion," Iash panted trying to catch his breath. "This is where you end and I begin!" He said in a mocking tone as he brought his left hand out from behind his back. "I shall soon be the one called Champion." He said as he activated the energy sword that he grabbed when Kesh had kicked him, just moments before.

Kesh was slightly impressed, but he did not give the whelp the satisfaction of seeing this. Instead he kept his eye's fixed on Iash as he reached behind and removed a sword form the auxiliary compartment on his back. "Did you honestly believe that I would come to a battle unprepared?" He asked as he watched the expression on the Whelp's face turn from one of victory to one of shear hatred; as he activated the new sword.

There was no response to the question Iash was just asked, only a loud roar of anger as he started to sprint toward Kesh. Kesh, however was done fooling around, it was time to put an end to this! With a great burst of speed Kesh charged Iash.

In the blink of an eye the two warriors where within striking distance of each other. It was then that Kesh did something Iash never saw coming. Kesh did a back flip off of Iash' left thigh; planting his left hoofed boot into the bottom of the whelps face; and while in mid-flip used his right sword; slashing vertically up Iash' torso. After completing the rotation and landing on his feet; Kesh sprang forward and drove both his swords into his enemy's chest and continued running until he pinned Iash to the lock mechanism of the arena's blast door.

It was now, with the grip of death fast upon him, that Iash reached forward and placed his right hand on Kesh shoulder, "you truly are the champion," Iash said as he gasped for breath, "but... Please, before I die... Promise me!"

"Promise you what?" Kesh said as he looked at the warrior he had just defeated.

"Promise..." Iash gasped for breath again, "Promise me that you will watch over my sibling in the... In the blue armor who is fighting your equal." Iash was looking over at Ento who was being circled by the remaining warriors from the mob.

"As you wish, I shall do as you request." Kesh said as he opened a COM channel to Ento. "Brother, bring those around you to me!" He said.

Seconds later came Ento's replied, "It will be done!" Ento said as he jumped over the Elites that were circling him and sprinted toward Kesh once he landed.

"You are a Sangheili... of great honor, thank yo..." Iash spoke as he slipped off into the clutches of death.

Kesh respectfully bowed his head. "May you find rest in the Great Journey." he said as he reached up and removed his combat visor with his left hand and pulled the last sword from the back compartment. He then turned around to face the Elites that were heading toward him.

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><p>Well what do ya think? I hope you liked it! If you have any questions or comments or just want to say hello, please submit a review.<p>

I'll get part two up as soon as I can!

Thanks for reading!

-Atrolus Spartan V84-


	4. Visions of change Part two

Hey again everyone, Atrolus here with the next chapter of Halo:Cataclysm's Contender. I would apologize for the incredibly long break between postings but, I won't. Because chances are that it will happen again and I'll have to apologize all over again.

Anyway Back to Business!

Chapter 4 is finished! But before you start reading you need to know a few things first. Like last chapter I have more Elite characters joining the cast and you the reader needs to know how to "read" their names the way I do. But don't worry it's easy!

Alright here they are.

Ownla 'Oimatee (Oy-mot-tee)

Rysh (Ra-eye-Sh) 'Adumee (A-doom-ee)

Vish (Like fish but put a V in place of the f) (and no that is not how I came up with the name.) 'Ahcoree (Ah-core-ee)

Ewsh (Eu-sh) 'Lusadee (Loose-a-dee)

Okay, now that you know how to read the names you should have no problem with the rest of the chapter.

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><p>Halo: Cataclysm's Contender<p>

(Chapter 4) Visions of Change (Part Two)

Second Cycle, 005 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar) \

Covenant Super Carrier, Divine Victory; Flag ship of the Fleet of Transcendent Reconstruction; Flag ship of the Prophet of Ambition; En route to the newly discovered Forerunner Artifact,

Iash opened his eyes and found that he was running toward something. He was confused. In his right hand was a blue energy sword and in his left hand was a red energy sword. "What was he running toward, and why did he have a red energy sword?" He thought to himself. "The Prophets only allowed the mightiest, most skilled Sangheili Warriors to wield such weapons; why did he have one?" He asked himself again.

It was now that the object Iash was running toward came into focus. He was rushing toward another Sangheili warrior. However, the Sangheili coming at him looked like no warrior he had ever seen before. This warrior was massive, undoubtedly powerful and fierce. He wore the armor that was accustomed to only Zealot ranked Elites. Its colors were black and gold. The Zealot's face was hidden behind a black combat visor that connected seamlessly with the armor's head piece. And in his hands were identical red energy swords.

"Why are we fighting one another?" Iash tried to ask the other Elite but no words came from his mouth. "Whats is the meaning of this?" Iash tried to ask again, but still no words could be heard.

The lack of speech angered Iash, he had no other way to communicate, except to fight! And that's what he was going to do. However, when he went to move his arms to defend himself, he found that he was unable to do so. This changed his anger into panic. This made no sense to him, nothing was making sense! He couldn't speak or move his arms. His legs were the only part of him that were moving. And when he tried to stop them; they didn't respond either. There was nothing that Iash could do, except watch as he and this unknown warrior came within striking distance.

Once they had reached this point the unknown Elite did something that Iash had never expected. In what seemed like slow motion, to Iash, the Warrior used Iash' left thigh as a spring board; allowing him enough height to execute his attack! Once in the air the Zealot flipped backward; kicking Iash face upward. While still in the rotation, he brought up his right sword; and slashed vertically up Iash chest plate; sending a lightning bolt of pain up his left side.

However, the warrior didn't stop there. Once he completed the flip and landed on his feet; the Zealot sprang forward and thrust his red blade's into Iash chest, lighting it on fire with pain! The Zealot was still not finished with this fight. For after he impaled Iash; he ran forward with his enemy before him. The running continued until Iash was slammed into a wall and pinned up off the ground by the energy blades. The masked Elite finished his assault by twisting the swords that he had embedded, thus increasing the pain of the wound a hundred fold...

Iash opened his eyes and sat up gasping for breath. He did a quick survey of his surroundings and realized that he was in his quarters sitting on his anti-grav bed. He heaved a sigh of relief as he turned and kicked his legs off the bed. His relief was short lived however. Because as he sat there thinking about the nightmare and how real it had been; he placed his left hand on his chest plate where he had been cut during the masked Elites attack. Iash was chilled to the core. On his chest plate was a long vertical slash mark from the unknown warrior's assault.

"Impossible!" Iash said under his breath as he got up and walked to the control panel on the wall. He pressed a symbol on the pad with his right hand, increasing the amount of lighting in his chamber. He then stepped to the side to inspect his damaged armor in the reflection of one of the violet colored alloy panels that lined his room's interior. "This is not possible, it was only a dream!" Iash growled to himself as he stared in disbelief.

"Oh, but it is possible!" Came a sinister voice, "And it happened, I saw it myself."

Iash spun around in the direction of the voice. "If you have any honor, you will show yourself!" He ordered.

"As you wish!" Came a dark response.

At the opposite end of Iash quarters appeared a tall cloaked figure. "What are you?" Asked Iash. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

"I am Cerberus." Said the cloaked figure as it gestured to itself. "I am a powerful servant of the Prophet of Ambition! I am not of your world. The body you see before you be only a tool, just as I am!"

"A construct," Iash mumbled in disbelief, "What is the meaning of this!" He demanded again,"How am I still alive? I know I was impaled." He said as he ran his hands over his chest plate feeling for the puncture holes. None were found. The only damage to his armor was the vertical slash on his chest plate.

"Unfortunately," Started Cerberus in a dark manner, "You will have to consult with the Champion about this matter." He paused a moment and let the title held by his masters mightiest warrior sink in, before he continued. "After all He was the one who defeated you in battle."

Iash ignored Cerberus jibe, "If you are here to rub salt in the wound that was my defeat, then you're wasting your breath... Now, if you're finished, leave me be, I have much contemplation to do." Iash said in a low yet commandingly powerful tone as he turned around and stared at his reflection again.

"As you wish," Replied the irksome AI. "However, my business here is not yet complete." Said Cerberus as he carefully watched the irritated Sangheili before him. "Indeed, the true purpose of my being here is to deliver to you a message."

"A message, from whom?" Asked Iash in a low tone as he looked at the construct's cloaked appearance in the panel's reflection.

"The message," Stated Cerberus, "Is from the Holy Prophet of Ambition. He has requested your presence in his War chamber."

"Is that all the message says?" Iash probed, "Or is there more?"

"Indeed there is more," Answered Cerberus in a stale voice. "The Prophet has requested that you leave any weapons you may have, in your quarters; you will no longer need them."

"So be it!" Replied Iash without a second thought, "I will not keep the Noble Hierarch waiting. Inform him that I will be in his presence soon!" Said Iash as he looked over his shoulder at Cerberus. The AI made no verbal reply he only bowed and disappeared.

"How did this happen?" Iash thought to himself as he looked at his reflection once more. The damaged chest plate instantly drawing his gaze. Iash said nothing. He only shook his head and sighed in disappointment as he reached for the room's controls and shut off the interior lighting and then left his quarters.

His journey to the Prophets War Chamber was relativity short. However, more of the ship's crew species were now alert and moving about the ship. This normally would have had no effect on him; he'd move about as just another Sangheili warrior. Unfortunately, due to recent events, he was no longer afforded this luxury. Word had spread quickly throughout Divine Victory's troops and crew about the duel between his mob and the Prophet's two mightiest Sangheili Zealots; namely the Champion: Kesh 'Rtaumee, and his Equal: Ento 'Zokulee. But, most importantly of all, the out come of the duel; along with the fact that he had some how been spared and was now forced to suffer the indignity of his loss.

As Iash made his way through the passages of the Divine Victory, he passed troops and crewmen of his, as well as, other allied Covenant species. Only the few Sangheili he passed offered him some shred of honor by not blatantly staring at him. But that was all the solace that he received, for the others he passed were not as considerate.

It wasn't until he entered the hall with the entrance of the War Chamber; that he was openly charged with his loss. Before him stood a small crowd of high ranking Covenant troops. The crowd was a conglomeration of Sangheili, the brutish Jiralhanae and a few Kig-yar, or Skirmishers as the humans referred to them. However no Jackals, the smaller more common of the Kig-yar species were present.

It only took a moment for the small assembly to figure out who he was. "Look, the Whelp that lost to the Champion!" Spouted a Brute in scarlet red colored armor who stood at the rear of the crowd, to the others present. "You shame us all by being here!"

"Pack Brother," said another Brute, who also wore scarlet red armor, addressing the one who had just spoken, "you should leave this one alone. The whelp, did not know any better! For everyone in the fleet knows that the only one who can defeat the Champion is General Ida, our Chieftain!"

"I thought that would have been obvious to us all," Boasted the first Brute in an even more antagonistic tone, as it looked at the others around him, "I guess not all Sangheili are as honorable as they would have us believe!"

The last comment drew the attention of everyone in the crowd, including the two Sangheili Honor Guard who stood watch outside the Prophet's War Chamber. Iash made no immediate reply to the two fools mocking him and his race. Instead he slowly shook his head and drew in and let out a deep breath, to calm himself. "You say that but, have you ever stopped and pondered why 'Rtaumee is the Prophets Champion and not your Chieftain?" He asked.

"It is because the Champion and I have no need to battle the other." Came the deep voice of the Jiralhanae General as he walked up behind Iash. "Your actions are to be commended!" He said as Iash turned to face him. "If any of my Brutes where to have attempted such a challenge; none of them would have made it out alive." Ida said as he glared at the scarlet armored Brutes who were just boasting about their Chieftain. "However your efforts have been misplaced, you should have focused more on assisting the Champion and his endeavors, not trying to over throw him."

Iash stood his ground and thought about what Ida just said. Ida had a point; if Iash and his men hadn't challenged the Champion and his Equal, he'd have more troops he could trust and rely upon now. However, it was far too late, his men were all dead. Iash shook his head again and looked up at the Chieftain and said. "What you say has honor in it, however, what I have done cannot be undone. I have lost my honor and my brothers, both of blood and of war, they have all moved on and yet here, I remain."

"If only that were true!" Echoed the voice of the Champion's Equal through the hall as he rounded the corner closest to the entrance of the Prophet's War Chamber. "And as you can see," Ento said as he gestured behind himself to the four other Sangheili with him, "what you perceive as truth is far from the way things really are."

"By the rings," Exclaimed the Sangheili warrior wearing blue armor, who was following Ento, "Iash, My brother, you're alive!"

"It would appear that way, Ownla." Iash said as he turned around to face the newcomers. "Rysh, Vish, Ewsh its good to see you."

"We are honored to see you alive." Replied the three Sangheili in unison.

"Iash, my Brother, how is it your still alive, we..." Ownla paused, as he searched for what to say, "We... The four of us," Ownla said as he looked at the three other surviving challengers standing next to him, "saw you parish by the Champion's blades, as you hung, elevated and pinned to the Arena's blast door... How..."

Iash raised his hands and made a stopping motion to his sibling. "Not even I know how this is possible, for I too, believed myself to have died. I know not..."

The reunion was cut short when the door to the Prophet's War Chamber chimed and opened. In the door way was the Champion with his black cloak hanging from his shoulders and his combat visor hiding his face. "You have all been summoned here for a reason, which shall be made clear by only the Prophet himself." Kesh said as he stepped past the Guards, out into the hallway. "You may enter." He said as he gestured the assembly inside.

"You heard the Champion!" Bellowed Ida as he stepped past Iash and shoved the two scarlet armored Brutes with the handle portion of his gravity hammer, "Lets not keep our Prophet waiting." He said as he lumbered past the others and up to Kesh, and extended his free arm forward and made a fist with his large mitt of a hand. "I hope those runts that challenged you didn't give you too much of a problem, old friend."

"Not at all." Kesh said as he reached forward and tapped Ida's fist with his own. "They proved to be of more use to me than they have yet to realize." He said as he glanced over at Iash.

"That's good to hear from the victor. I was honored greatly to have seen that clash with my own eye's!" Ida said as he turned and entered in behind his scarlet armored Brutes and the others among the assembly.

After the Jiralhanae Chieftain entered; only Kesh, Iash and the two Honor Guard remained in the hall way. Iash didn't move, he only stared at the Champion with the expression of someone who was deeply unsatisfied by what lay before him. Kesh returned the stare and remained as motionless as a statue; not yielding to the whelp who stood before him. The battle of silence continued on for several seconds but, to the participants it could have been years.

The silence was only broken when Iash spoke. "You are truly a powerful servant of the Prophet, and you have the ability of the Demons that the humans employ against our holy crusade. For you have not only succeeded in defeating me in a physical struggle but, like those Demons, you continue to torment my mind during my time of rest." Iash paused expecting the Champion to say something but, got no response, so he continued. "And now that I've been stripped of my honor, what remains?" Iash asked as he looked at his hands. "For just as you said 'I have no honor and a Sangheili without honor is dead.' So I am dead and all that remains of me is this living corpse." Iash said as he looked at the Champion once more. Kesh still did not reply; he just kept his motionless form.

"Why am I still alive, if I am dead?" Iash asked quietly.

This question provoked a response from the Champion. "You are alive because of what I have seen."

"What you have seen?"

"Yes, because of what I have seen and what I have endured in my service to the Covenant," Kesh said as he reached up and removed the combat visor from his helmet. The visor detached with a hiss as it was pulled away and revealed the Champion's amber colored eyes and missing jaw mandibles. "I was once in a situation regarding my honor, much like you are now." He said as he massaged the area, behind, where the right mandibles had once been. "However, unlike yourself, my honor was taken by a human, not by a fellow of my own race."

"But why..." Iash started to ask but was cut off mid-sentence.

"I spared you because you have the potential of becoming someone with truly great honor." Kesh said as he raised his free hand and pointed at Iash. "I answered your challenge not because I desired to fight. I answered your challenge because I was looking for warriors with the potential of becoming my Brothers!" Kesh paused to let the truth of his intentions sink in. "I found five such warriors when I fought you, and you're the first of the five."

The Champion's explanation did very little to answer Iash question. Instead it gave birth to several more that Iash wanted to inquire about. "If what you say is true; that you have endured similar trials that I am facing now, then what would you have me do?" Iash asked in a very serious manner.

"I would have you enter and listen to what the Prophet of Ambition has to say and then act upon his counsel." He said as he again gestured toward the door. "Enter and find your new purpose!" Kesh said as he turned and walked back into the War Chamber, Iash following close behind.

As Iash entered the War Chamber he found the members of the assembly standing side-by-side in a wide ark around a large holographic display in the center of the room. The room's lighting was low, providing very little illumination which cast large dark shadows into it's corners. Floating above the holo display was an image of the Divine Victory; the Super Carrier that served as the Prophet's flag ship; the ship they were on now. Iash walked up and stood beside the Brute Chieftain and continued to look at the floating image above him.

Kesh walked up to the Prophet who was also looking at the image of his ship. "Noble Prophet of Ambition, those whom you have requested have been gathered." Kesh said as he knelt down on one knee and bowed his head. Those in the assembly followed the Champion's example and knelt down and bowed their heads as well.

Ambition turned his hovering throne to face Kesh and said. "Well done, Champion."

"It was nothing, Holy one, as your Champion, I endeavor to do as my Prophet wishes!" Kesh said while still kneeling in respect.

Ambition made no further comments to his Champion. Instead he turned his gaze to the others and proclaimed. "My fellows! My allies! For far too long have we deviated from the Journey's true path. Be it because of the distraction's, squabbles and disputes between your kinds! Or be it, due to our crusade against the humans! It does not matter! We all have deviated from the way that we ought to walk! Which is why I have had you assemble here this day." Ambition said as he looked at the different species that were knelt before him.

"You have all proven yourselves as the leaders, the brave and the bold. You have all been shown equality in your service of my fleet and forces." The Prophet paused as he looked with pride upon the kneeling. "However, this group that is here before me now has gone far beyond what I have ever required. And for your actions you have been rewarded with rank and position, which has allowed you to become the examples of your peoples, and to prove to your brethren that you can dwell together in peace, while those outside the folds of this fleet struggle and bicker with themselves and others."

Ambition paused for a second to let those before him think about what he had just mentioned. "But, we have stilled fallen into the way of error," said the Prophet in a saddened tone. "Although, our error was not our doing, but the doing of the current leaders of this Covenant; the Prophets of Truth, Regret and Mercy." Ambition carefully watched the leaders in front of him as he made that last claim; for any reaction before he continued. To his satisfaction he watched as none of those gathered did as much as even flinch to offer a word of protest to his speech. "My Brothers, we cannot allow this insolence continue any longer. We must rise up and confront those sinners with the errors of their ways and make them repent with their lives! Then and only then will we be able to lead our Covenant back to the righteous path and press forward in the Great Journey!" He said with his attention, intently focused on the warriors before him. "Now rise, all of you, for we have much to be discus in order to succeed!"

The warriors did as they were told, however, the expressions that some of them wore were not ones of confidence and gratitude, instead they had looks of disgust, confusion and anger on their faces. It was clear that not all of those in the assembly agreed with this idea of rebellion. Among the confused was Ida who spoke up. "Noble Prophet, what you say would mean certain death to us all. I do not disagree with your leadership and decisions but, it would seem that you have over looked one important facet of your plan."

"And what might that be General?" Ambition asked in a cool unflinching manner that said he was confident in his plans."What have I, your Prophet over looked?"

"I believe it to be quite clear," said the massive hammer wielding Jiralhanae as he addressed the Prophet. "How do you expect us to battle our Covenant with only our fleet? We have nowhere near enough ships and troops to impose your plan. We would be slaughtered for our defiance!"

"What you say has a great amount of wisdom in it, however, I have yet to reveal the keys that will make our efforts successful." Ambition said as he pressed a symbol on the left arm of his throne. This action caused the image of the Divine Victory to vanish, dropping the entire room into an almost complete state of darkness. Seconds later a new image appeared above them. None of the leaders had ever seen the image before. It looked like a sliver of a moon and yet it had the detail and beauty of the Prophet of Truth's Dreadnaught that powered the Covenant holy city: High Charity.

"What..." Stated Kesh as he gazed at the new image floating above him as he struggled to find the words to finish his thought, "What is this?"

"This," Began Ambition as he looked at the assembly before him; all of which seemed to be mesmerized and speechless. "This is the first key to OUR transcendence!" Ambition declared as he turned his throne to face the image and thrust his arms into the air. "With this we will rise up and dethrone the false Prophets that lead the Covenant, and then we will use this to return to the proper path and then lead us to our salvation which is the Great Journey!"

"So be it," Said Iash as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the Prophet. "But you still have yet to answer the Champion's question, what is it?"

"This is an artifact left behind by the gods, for us to find." Said Ambition as he turned back to face his assembly. "From my study of it, I have determined that it is indeed a vessel constructed by the Forerunner, our god's."

This revelation caused the entire assembly to kneel down once again. Forerunner artifacts were sacred and deserved the utmost respect. Some among the allied Covenant species would have considered trifling with such treasures, heresy, punishable by death unless a Prophet were to give his blessing.

"Now," Said Ambition, "I have treated you all with equality for this and several other reasons. To start, you have all been given fair and equal opportunity, in order for you to leave behind your feelings of superiority over others and then be able to be more effective in your endeavors." Ambition paused as he looked at leaders. "And lastly, because of my hope of one day standing up and over throwing the fools who lead the Covenant now, with you loyally by my side. Together we shall prevail over them and then show our brethren the errors of which we have all made."

"Now," Ambition said as he continued to look at his men. "I realize that my visions of change, may seem like an impossible task. For it is true that the fleets that the leading Prophets wield are as numerous as they are powerful and would easily destroy us. However, what you have just seen, was the just the first key in my vision. The second is this: we are not alone. There are others who have shared my vision and that will rally with us when the moment is right."

"And who might this Ally be?" This time it was Ento who spoke up to consult Ambition. "It is good to have Allies but, unless we know who they are, how can they be trusted." Ento said as he looked around at the other leaders standing with him and saw Kesh nod in approval to the comment.

"Indeed, how can they be trusted," Replied Ambition as he looked at the Sangheili Zealot. "The Ally that is spoke of can be trusted, for he, like myself is a Prophet; the Prophet of Redemption is his name!"

"Redemption you say," chuckled Ida, in the way that only the ape like Jiralhanae could, "That explains why your so confident of this plan. For you have allied yourself with one of, if not the largest fleet holder within the Covenant!"

"Yes, indeed I have," the Prophet of Ambition said with a smirk of a smile. "That is why he is the second key in my vision. With his help we should be able to bring Truth, Regret and Mercy to their knees and make them step down without too much blood shed."

"Now, that I have revealed to you my vision, go, rally your forces! We shall be arriving soon to take control of our future, and we shall be ready for whatever may stand in our way." Ambition said to the assembled as they began exiting the War Chamber. "Kesh, Ento, and the others who fought in the duel earlier, stay I still have matters to discuss with you."

All the members of the assembly departed except for those whom the Prophet had requested to stay. Once the others had left and the doors to the War Chamber closed, Ambition looked at Kesh, as well as, Ento and said. "So these are the Warriors you have chosen?"

"Yes, Holy one they are," Kesh said as he looked to Ento for confirmation; Ento looked back at the Champion and nodded. "These are the five that we have deemed worthy of becoming our Brothers." Kesh said as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Very well, then they shall be yours." Said Ambition as he looked at his Champion. "I shall grant you and your men with my blessing." He said as he pressed a symbol on the right arm of his throne and then turned his gaze to the right side of his War Chamber.

The Sangheili warriors standing before the Prophet followed his gaze. One by one on the right side of the War Chamber rose five large rectangular equipment cases from the floor. Those in the chamber said nothing as the objects ascended; each case making a muffled clang as it came to a stop. Once the cases had all completed their rise and all was quiet again, Ambition spoke, "You five," He said as he stretched out his arm and pointed at the five surviving challengers. "You have been chosen by my Champion and deemed worthy of my blessing." Ambition paused and looked at Kesh who nodded in approval. "Now go, each of you to a case and behold what await you inside."

Iash said nothing as he looked at the Prophet he only nodded, acknowledging the Prophet's command as he started toward the cases, along with the others. Iash walked up to the case that had been the first one to rise from the floor, and studied it.

Unlike the violet alloy that was commonly used by the Covenant; the cases were made of a silver colored, brushed alloy that resembled the material used in the construction of an energy sword's hilt. The sides of the case were illuminated with light blue holographic lights, along with the Prophets seal in the center of each side. The front of the case was separated by a glowing offset seam, starting in the upper right and ending in the lower left and was connected in the middle by a horizontal seam with a holographic control panel above it. Only one symbol was illuminated on the holographic controls which Iash reached forward and touched. The symbol then chimed and disappeared.

On the front of the case appeared a message in Covenant text, which read. "The true devotee honors our name with Actions not words."

"What you see before you is the oath that every Sangheili takes when they are granted the rank of Zealot." Echoed the Champion's voice throughout the Prophets War Chamber. "What say you?"

Iash did not immediately reply to the Champion's call. Instead, he first looked at those standing beside him, and found them waiting to meet his gaze. "Well, what say you?" He asked. The four answered with simple nods. "Very well," Iash said as he gave them his answer with a nod and then turned to face the Champion.

"What say you?" Kesh quarried again as those in front of the cases turned to face him. "What is your answer?"

"We," Iash and the others said in unison as they knelt down, each one on one knee, with their right arm crossed over their chest. "The true devotee's Honor our name's with Actions not words!" They replied with strong voices.

"You have now passed our tests." The Champion announced. "Go! Dawn your new identities my Brothers!" He said as the new Zealots returned to their case's and began taking off their old armor and started equipping their new set. The Champion then turned his attention to his Prophet, "You have my thanks, Holy one, I'll make sure that they use your blessing to the fullest."

"As my Champion, I would expect nothing less of you. However, my blessing has yet to be completely fulfilled." Said Ambition as he looked at his Champion. "While you have had new members added to your Zealot forces, you have yet to receive my blessing." Said Ambition as he pointed at Kesh.

"Holy one, I do not wish to burden you, surely the blessing of more warriors is enough!" The Champion said.

"I appreciate your humility but, I'm afraid that your Sangheili alone will not suffice on this campaign." Ambition said as he pressed a symbol on the left arm of his chair. The symbol caused a small dais to rise up from the floor in front of the holographic display which projected the Prophets first key. "Now, go and rest your hand and receive my blessing."

Kesh did as Ambition said and placed his right hand upon the pedestal. At first it appeared as though nothing was happening and Kesh tried to turn around and face his Prophet but, was unable to do so. This caused him a bit of surprise. "What kind of blessing renders someone immobile!" He said with a raised voice to his Prophet. "Explain yourself!" He demanded.

"Do not fear, my Champion, this is just a how you are to receive my blessing." Ambition said as he maneuvered his throne up beside Kesh. "I am giving you a powerful tool that will aid you and your men." He said as he looked at the hovering image of the artifact. "I am giving you my servant Cerberus. He will make your task of taking control of the first key far easier than if you were to embark on this campaign without him."

"This Servant, this Cerberus had better follow my command and prove himself worthy, for I do not appreciate the inability to control my own members!" Kesh said with an irritated tone.

"Calm yourself Champion," Said a dark voice that seemed to sprout from nowhere. "You are free to move, the imparting of the Prophets blessing is now complete." Said the voice as Kesh removed his hand from the Dais.

"Did you hear that?" Kesh said as he turned to face Ento.

"Hear what, Brother?" Replied Ento. "I only heard you and the Prophet."

"I see," said Kesh as he turned to face Ambition. "What is this blessing that you have given me?" he asked.

"The blessing that I have given you my servant, Cerberus." Ambition said again. "He is a powerful construct that I have made. Cerberus is far more powerful than any constructs that we have in use aboard our ships. He will serve you well."

"It is indeed as the Prophet says," said the Construct from the back of the Champion's mind. "I am your armor, I will defend and serve you, just as you do for your Prophet."

"Very well," Said the agitated Sangheili Champion."When the time comes I expect you to preform at the level you claim you can. I will not tolerate anything less, however, I will expect more."

"As you wish my Master, it will be done!" Said Cerberus with a firm and resolute tone. "You shall not be disappointed."

"Forgive me for my rudeness, Holy one." Kesh said as he bowed respectfully. "When the time comes I will also put this blessing of yours to good use."

"Good," Ambition said. "You will get to do so, soon enough."

* * *

><p>Alright, here's the part where I ask you the reader what you thought!<p>

O.o Well, what did you think? Did you like it? If you did please write a review.

That's it for this chapter! Thanks for reading!

- Atrolus Spartan V84 -


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